He nods, then shakes his head and looks up at the ceiling. “Fuck, she told me she’s pregnant.”
The fork freezes halfway to my mouth. My heart stutters. I look at Nana, who’s also gone still.
“I’m going to be a grandpa. Can’t fucking believe it.” He looks back down with another shake of his head, and I quickly set my fork down and put my hands under the table to keep the tremor in them out of his line of sight.
“Pregnant?” I can barely say the word.
“Yeah. Her and Kooper, her old man who I decked, are going to raise a kid together. I’m still trying to process all of it. I’m happy for her, for them. And I told her I might not remember shit about her childhood, but I’ll make sure that my grandkid knows me well enough that if I lose my memory again, I’ll remember them.” He shakes his head again and then smiles. “Shit, I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a grandpa.”
I lick my lips and blink back tears that have a mind of their own.
“Sorry,” he mutters as he looks at me and then Nana. “Don’t mean to keep cursing, but I’m still wrapping my head around this. And she told me to keep it a secret for a few weeks to make sure shit is together or something.”
“The first trimester,” I whisper on autopilot.
He nods. “Yeah. They want to make sure they’re past that stage before the club finds out. I wanted to tell someone, and since I can’t tell them, you guys are stuck with me rationalizing all this till they take off my gag order. Me, a grandpa who can’t remember his own kid. How about them apples? Fuck, I’m just happy it’s that way and not me finding out someone I was seeing was pregnant who I didn’t remember. Can you imagine? Being a grandpa is going totake some getting used to, but being a new dad? Ha, that would be trippy.”
“Yeah, trippy.” I reach for my water and drink before I say anything else.
“Very trippy.” Nana gives me a sympathetic look and a nod of understanding before drinking from her glass as well.
Looks like we’re both on the same page. Not telling Karter he’ll be a dad, at least right now, feels like the best option.
At least Ihope so.
Chapter 22 - Karter
“Settle.” Casper bangs the gavel shaped like a scythe twice, and the murmurs from the brothers dwindle out till everyone’s quiet. “Better. We’ve got a lot of shit to go over, so let’s get to it. Bulldog, what’s first?”
“Getting more beer out, but till we figure out what the damn count is for what we’re making, I can’t get you shit for numbers,” he grumbles as he crosses his arms.
Casper sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. Probably been hearing this shit too much. I know when I was in the chair, it felt like the same damn problems kept coming up. The further I pushed them down the line, the more noise they made.
“Got it, Bulldog, I got it. Fine, let’s have it. The first order of business is getting positions filled. Ain’t going to lie and say shit’s running fine with the way things are, because we all know that’s bull. I’m surprised we’ve been able to go this long, but with the extra work, everyone stepped up.” He nods to Chains, who no doubt moved back into an unofficial officer’s position while shit was up in the air. “Domino’s still running the books for us while in Michigan, so as of now, we need a new treasurer to replace him and a sergeant of arms to replace me.”
“And a new president’s enforcer.” Mad Max speaks up from his spot. He usually sits behind the president, but not today. He’s still sitting on the back wall, just more to the left.
Casper looks over, and for a tense moment, I wonder if he’s offended that my pick for my personal guard doesn’t want to be his.
“I agree,” he says instead of debating the fact. “Kooper”—Casper looks down the table at him—“you up for it?”
The guy’s eyes go a smidge wide before he locks down his surprise. “You sure about it? I thought you’d want my patch for having my own team look after Peaches when I couldn’t before I spoke to anyone in the club.”
Now I’m the one with wide eyes, and I ain’t hiding shit. This is news to me.
Casper just shrugs. “You did what you had to. Which is what my man needs to do. Sometimes that means going outside the club to guarantee protection. Even if it did turn to shit in the end.”
Kooper looks around. Most of the brothers are nodding at him, and when our eyes lock for a second, I do the same.
He looks back to our president. “I’m in.”
“Right. All in favor, say ‘aye.’”
A chorus of ayes goes up.
“Opposed?”
No one speaks, and Casper hits the gavel to seal the change in position.
